The pounding of bare feet on the floor replaced my anxious overthinking with that weird roll of nausea and anticipation that accompanied Theo’s entry into a room. He was wearing jeans again and a gray T-shirt, which had no right looking as good as it did. The thing was practically ripping at the seams from his big-ass triceps.

“Where are you going?” I asked because my home training filters had run out of batteries somewhere around hour five of filming.

“To the store,” he said, sliding his feet into a pair of leather sandals. “I need to go raid a 7-Eleven or wherever it is they sell the vanilla-flavored dirt you use for coffee and the fake milk you pour on it.”

How did a person manage to be that thoughtful and that much of a jerk at the same time? Still, I had to work hard not to smile.

“My coffee is delicious.” I ignored his scoff and fake retching sounds. “And you don’t have to get me anything.” I didn’t know if it was the habit of getting things for him for years that made the thought of him going to the store just to get me something feel weird.

“Do you even know where to buy regular human coffee?” I asked before I could stop myself.

He shrugged those massive shoulders that had been on the cover of the Sports Mag Body issue two years running, and I could see the cuts and dips under his tight T-shirt. “There’s a Target like ten minutes away. You’re going to be here a lot, it makes sense to have some essentials.” He held up a hand like he knew I was going to gripe, but he surprised me by offering an invitation. “You could always come with me if you don’t think I can handle buying your caffeine-infused sawdust.”

“I have to go home soon; it’ll take me forever to get back to Julia’s,” I hedged as he walked over to where he kept his keys.

He made a noise of disapproval and turned to scowl at me. “You could just stay here and reduce that stressor from your life. There’s plenty of space.”

“And deal with your stench and freak big toes?” I looked down at his feet and pretended to be horror stricken. “No thank you,” I joked, but the possibility of rooming with this man was no laughing matter.

Theo Ganas was a temptation even when he behaved like a heartless, selfish ass. This thoughtful, funny, flirtatious man who had arrived in Texas could be potentially disastrous. I could not get caught up in whatever game Theo was playing with me. Not when I was so close to getting what I wanted.

I didn’t think I imagined him calling me “malcriada” under his breath, but he didn’t push the issue.

“Are you coming or what?” he asked, sliding his phone into his front pocket.